Much has been written about the integrated healthcare system that the Kaiser Permanente health group makes possible in the eight states and nine regions which it serves in America. But what did the participants who ventured to Kaiser in our recent study tour learn from the experience? And what is the value of taking NHS […]
Sarah Venis: Going digital – join in the online Médecins Sans Frontières scientific day
Why does a medical humanitarian organisation like Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hold a yearly scientific conference? The common image of MSF has more in common with Angelina Jolie’s film efforts than with the well trodden academic routines of powerpoint presentations and poster galleries. Although venues and audiovisual technology have changed since the conference was first […]
Gabriel Scally: on the WHO general assembly in Geneva
As I queued in the rain to get through security I pondered life in a non-governmental organisation (NGO) rather than a Ministry of Health. It rarely makes the headlines in the press but every year the World Health Organization (WHO) has its general assembly in Geneva. It brings together government delegations from member countries from […]
Martin McShane: Win, win, win?
In the last week, I have managed to catch up with two old friends who are the sort of GPs who I would be delighted to look after me or my family. As I listened to them both, I empathised with the pressures general practitioners face. On top of the burden of more and more […]
Tracey Koehlmoos: Put that french fry down!
Last week, a concerned community member was investigating the type of oil used for frying at the American Club in Jakarta. It turns out that the club had been using a solidified palm oil for frying. I happened to be standing there at the moment of discovery. My public health adviser instincts kicked into gear: […]
Tom Nolan: Welcome to the Fold
“You need a lot of patience to play this game,” one of the Foldit community replied after I asked for some tips on how to rebuild my protein’s backbone. “Just keep wiggling,” another suggested. The frustration of watching my score plummet as my protein unfolded was getting to me. I might have given up at […]
Edzard Ernst: Thousands of patients cannot be wrong or can they?
The subject of alternative medicine (AM) is littered with surveys, and it almost seems as though a new one crops up every other day. Typically these surveys assess how many patients use AM. The resulting prevalence figures show an extremely wide range. One reason for this huge variability is that most of these surveys are […]
Domhnall MacAuley: Exporting UK style quality and outcomes to Switzerland
Clocks, watches, mountains, and trains. Clean Swiss efficiency. So, I was fascinated to learn about Swiss primary care when speaking at a recent conference in Lausanne; mostly single handed, still predominantly male, and with limited use of electronic records. Joining me from the UK was Stephen Campbell from Manchester, one of the architects of the […]
Richard Smith: Why I won’t be retiring to the seaside
Taxi drivers rank alongside hairdressers as sources of deep information about communities, and the one who drove me on Sunday morning from Padstow on the Cornish Coast to Bodmin Parkway confirmed for me that it’s a bad idea to move to the seaside when you retire. “A lot of my business is driving people to […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review – 21 May 2012
JAMA 16 May 2012 Vol 307 Do we all live on the same planet? I’m nearing the end of an amazing year at Yale, surrounded by superlatively intelligent people working on the outcomes of US healthcare. I myself occupy a space with brilliant newly qualified young doctors from India, Iran, and Brazil, putting together a […]